Wylie and Elmore

James Blood Ulmer - Tales Of Captain Black

      

James “Blood” Ulmer (born February 2, 1942) is an American jazz and blues guitarist and singer. Ulmer’s distinctive guitar sound has been described as “jagged” and “stinging.” His singing has been called “raggedly soulful.”

Ulmer was born in St. Matthews, South Carolina. He began his career playing with various soul jazz ensembles, first in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1959-1964, and then in the Columbus, Ohio region, from 1964-1967. He first recorded with organist John Patton in 1969. After moving to New York in 1971, Ulmer played with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, Joe Henderson, Paul Bley, Rashied Ali and Larry Young.

In the early 1970s, Ulmer joined Ornette Coleman; he was the first electric guitarist to record and tour extensively with Coleman. He has credited Coleman as a major influence, and Coleman’s strong reliance on electric guitar in his fusion-oriented recordings owes a distinct debt to Ulmer.

He formed a group called the Music Revelation Ensemble with David Murray and Ronald Shannon Jackson, with whom he recorded throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Different incarnations of the group also featured Julius Hemphill, Arthur Blythe, Sam Rivers, and Hamiet Bluiett on saxophones and flutes. In the 1980s he co-led, with saxophonist George Adams, the ensemble Phalanx.

1983’s Odyssey, with drummer Warren Benbow and violinist Charles Burnham, was described as “avant-gutbucket,” leading writer Bill Milkowski to describe the music as “conjuring images of Skip James and Albert Ayler jamming on the Mississippi Delta.”

Ulmer has recorded many albums as a leader, including three recent acclaimed blues-oriented records produced by Vernon Reid. He also performs solo.

Ulmer was also a judge for the 8th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists.

In a 2005 Down Beat interview, Ulmer opined that guitar technique had not advanced since the death of Jimi Hendrix. He stated that technique could advance “if the guitar would stop following the piano,” and indicated that he tunes all of his guitar strings to A.

In spring 2011, Ulmer joined saxophone luminary James Carter’s organ trio as a special guest along with Nicholas Payton on trumpet for a six-night stand of performances at Blue Note New York.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Blood_Ulmer)

zip James Blood Ulmer - Tales Of Captain Black

Stanley Turrentine - Look Out!

Stanley William Turrentine, also known as “Mr. T” or “The Sugar Man”, (April 5, 1934 – September 12, 2000) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.

Turrentine was born in Pittsburgh’s Hill District into a musical family. His father, Thomas Turrentine, Sr., was a saxophonist with Al Cooper’s Savoy Sultans, his mother played stride piano, and his older brother Tommy Turrentine also became a professional trumpet player.

He began his prolific career with blues and rhythm and blues bands, and was at first greatly influenced by Illinois Jacquet. In the 1950s, he went on to play with the groups of Lowell Fulson, Earl Bostic, and at the turn of the decade, Max Roach.

Turrentine received his only formal musical training during his military stint in the mid-’50s. In 1959, he jumped from the frying pan into the fire when he left the military and went straight into the band of the great drummer Max Roach.

He married the organist Shirley Scott in 1960 and the two frequently played and recorded together. In the 1960s, he started working with organist Jimmy Smith, and made many soul jazz recordings both with Smith and as a leader.

In the 1970s, after his professional split and divorce from Scott, Turrentine turned to jazz fusion and signed for Creed Taylor’s CTI label. His first album for CTI, “Sugar” proved one of his biggest successes and a seminal recording for the label. He worked with Freddie Hubbard, Milt Jackson, George Benson, Bob James, Richard Tee, Idris Muhammad, Ron Carter, Grant Green and Eric Gale, to name a few. He returned to soul jazz in the 1980s and into the 1990s.

Turrentine lived in Ft. Washington, Maryland from the early 90s until his death. He died of a stroke in New York City on September 12, 2000 and is buried in Pittsburgh’s Allegheny Cemetery.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_Turrentine)

rar Stanley Turrentine - Look Out!

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Dakota Staton - Madame Foo-Foo

Dakota Staton (June 3, 1930 – April 10, 2007), also known by the Muslim name Aliyah Rabia for a period due to her conversion to Islam as interpreted by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, was an American jazz vocalist who found international acclaim with the 1957 No. 4 hit, “The Late, Late Show”.

Born in the Homewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, she attended George Westinghouse High School and studied music at the Filion School of Music in Pittsburgh. Later she performed regularly in the Hill District, a jazz hotspot, as a vocalist with the Joe Wespray Orchestra, a popular Pittsburgh orchestra. She next spent several years in the nightclub circuit in such cities as Detroit, Indianapolis, Cleveland and St. Louis. While in New York, she was noticed singing at a Harlem nightclub called the Baby Grand by Dave Cavanaugh, a producer for Capitol Records. She was signed and released several singles, her success leading her to win Down Beat magazine’s “Most Promising New Comer” award in 1955. In 1958, Staton wed Talib Ahmad Dawud, a black Antiguan Ahmadi Muslim trumpeter and noted critic of Elijah Muhammad.

She released several critically acclaimed albums in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including: The Late, Late Show (1957), whose title track was her biggest hit, In the Night (1957), a collaboration with pianist George Shearing, Dynamic! (1958) and Dakota at Storyville (1961), a live album recorded at the Storyville jazz club in Boston. Staton moved to England in the mid-1960s. She continued to record semi-regularly, her recordings taking an increasingly strong gospel and blues influence. Staton died in New York City aged 76.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dakota_Staton)

rar Dakota Staton - Madame Foo-Foo

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Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin’

Conrad Yeatis “Sonny” Clark (July 21, 1931 – January 13, 1963) was an American jazz pianist who mainly worked in the hard bop idiom.

Clark was born and raised in Herminie, Pennsylvania, a coal mining town southeast of Pittsburgh. At age 12, he moved to Pittsburgh. When visiting an aunt in California at age 20, Clark decided to stay and began working with saxophonist Wardell Gray. Clark went to San Francisco with Oscar Pettiford and after a couple months, was working with clarinetist Buddy DeFranco in 1953. Clark toured the U.S. and Europe with DeFranco until January 1956, when he joined The Lighthouse All-Stars, led by bassist Howard Rumsey.

Wishing to return to the east coast, Clark served as accompanist for singer Dinah Washington in February 1957 in order to relocate to New York City. In New York, Clark was often requested as a sideman by many musicians, partly because of his rhythmic comping. He frequently recorded for Blue Note Records, playing as a sideman with many hard bop players, including Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Paul Chambers, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Curtis Fuller, Grant Green, Philly Joe Jones, Clifford Jordan, Jackie McLean, Hank Mobley, Art Taylor, and Wilbur Ware. He also recorded sessions with Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Billie Holiday, Stanley Turrentine, and Lee Morgan.

As a band leader, Clark recorded albums “Dial “S” for Sonny” (1957), “Sonny’s Crib” (1957), Sonny Clark Trio (1957), with Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, and Cool Struttin’ (1958). Sonny Clark Trio, with George Duvivier and Max Roach was released in 1960.

Clark died of a heart attack in New York City, although commentators attribute the early death to Clark’s drug and alcohol abuse.

Close friend and fellow jazz pianist Bill Evans dedicated the composition “NYC’s No Lark” (an anagram of “Sonny Clark”) to him after his death, included on Evans’ Conversations with Myself (1963). John Zorn, Wayne Horvitz, Ray Drummond, and Bobby Previte recorded an album of Clark’s compositions, Voodoo (1985), as The Sonny Clark Memorial Quartet. Zorn also recorded several of Clark’s compositions with Bill Frisell and George Lewis on News for Lulu (1988) and More News for Lulu (1992).

(source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonny_Clark)

rar Sonny Clark - Cool Struttin’

Roy Eldridge & Coleman Hawkins - Just You, Just Me - Live in 1959

                         

Roy David Eldridge (January 30, 1911 – February 26, 1989), nicknamed “Little Jazz” was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a precursor of bebop.

Eldridge was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and originally played drums, trumpet and tuba. He led bands from his early years, moving to St. Louis, and then to New York. He absorbed the influence of saxophonists Benny Carter and Coleman Hawkins, setting himself the task of learning Hawkins 1926 solo on “The Stampede” in developing an equivalent trumpet style.

Eldridge played in various bands in New York in the early 1930s, as well as making records and radio broadcasts under his own name. His rhythmic power to swing a band was a dynamic trademark of the jazz of the time. It has been said that “from the mid-Thirties onwards, he had superseded Louis Armstrong as the exemplar of modern ‘hot’ trumpet playing”.

Eldridge was very versatile on his horn, not only quick and articulate with the low to middle registers, but the high registers as well. The high register lines that Eldridge employed were one of many prominent features of his playing, another being blasts of rapid double-time notes followed by a return to standard time. These stylistic points were heavy influences on Dizzy Gillespie, who, along with Charlie Parker, brought bebop into existence. Eldridge participated in some of the early jam sessions at Minton’s Playhouse. A careful listening to bebop standards, such as the song “Bebop”, reveals how much Eldridge influenced this genre of jazz.

In May 1941, Eldridge joined Gene Krupa’s Orchestra, and was successfully featured with rookie singer Anita O’Day on a series of recordings including the novelty hit “Let Me Off Uptown”. However, Eldridge complained that O’Day was upstaging him and the band broke up after Krupa was jailed for marijuana possession in July 1943. Eldridge then joined Artie Shaw’s band.

In the postwar years, he became part of the group which toured under the Jazz at the Philharmonic banner. He became one of the stalwarts of the group. Its producer Norman Granz said that Roy Eldridge typified the spirit of jazz. “Every time he’s on he does the best he can, no matter what the conditions are. And Roy is so intense about everything, so that it’s far more important to him to dare, to try to achieve a particular peak, even if he falls on his ass in the attempt, than it is to play safe. That’s what jazz is all about.” 

Eldridge moved to Paris for a time, before returning to New York, where he worked with Coleman Hawkins, Ella Fitzgerald and Earl “Fatha” Hines among others. Eldridge led the house band at Jimmy Ryan’s club in Manhattan for several years in the late 1960’s-early 1970’s. In 1971, Eldridge was inducted into the Down Beat Jazz Hall of Fame. After a stroke in 1980, he continued performing on other instruments for the remainder of his life.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Eldridge)

zip Roy Eldridge & Coleman Hawkins - Just You, Just Me - Live in 1959

Jimmy Ponder - Illusions

          

Jimmy Ponder (born May 10, 1946 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American jazz guitarist.

Ponder started playing guitar at age 14, and was heavily influenced by Wes Montgomery and Kenny Burrell. He began playing with Charles Earland at 17, and in the following years played with Lou Donaldson, Houston Person, Donald Byrd, Stanley Turrentine, and Jimmy McGriff. He moved to Philadelphia and later New York City in the 1970s, and recorded extensively as a leader for a number of jazz labels. Since the late 1980’s Jimmy has frequently returned to his hometown to perform with his popular trio alongside two of Pittsburgh’s other Jazz greats; Roger Humphries and Gene Ludwig. Ponder’s most commercially successful releases were his 1978 Muse Records set All Things Beautiful (U.S. Billboard Jazz Albums #38) and 2000’s Ain’t Misbehavin’, for HighNote (U.S. Jazz #16).

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Ponder)

rar Jimmy Ponder - Illusions

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The Four Coins - In Shangri-La

The Four Coins were a popular vocal group, consisting of Jimmy Gregorakis, George Mantalis, and brothers George and Jack Mahramas. They were all of Greek heritage and came from Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. A local orchestra leader, Lee Barrett, took them to audition in Cincinnati, Ohio and this led to their cutting some high-charting records and appearing on television.

In 1970, however, they left show business to tend to family obligations, not performing again until 2003, when they did two final shows back in their home town.

They appeared in the 1957 Warner Brothers rock and roll movie Jamboree singing the song “A Broken Promise”.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Four_Coins)

rar The Four Coins - In Shangri-La

The Del-Vikings - 1956 Audition Tapes

 

The Del-Vikings (also known as The Dell-Vikings) are an American doo-wop musical group, who recorded several hit singles in the 1950s, and continued to record and tour with various lineups in later decades. The group was notable for being one of the few racially integrated musical groups to attain success in the 1950s.

The Del-Vikings were formed in 1955 by members of the United States Air Force stationed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with Clarence Quick, Kripp Johnson, Don Jackson, Samuel Paterson, and Bernard Robertson. Because all of the members were in the armed forces, the group constantly ran the risk of being disrupted by members being stationed in other places. This happened soon after the group’s forming when Paterson and Robertson were sent to Germany. They were replaced by baritone David Lerchey, the group’s first white member, and tenor Norman Wright. Norman Wright had started a group with Lawrence “Prince” Lloyd called The Valverteens from Amarillo Air Force Base,Texas before joining The Del-Vikings.

The origin of the band’s name is unclear. Some sources say that the band members had read about Vikings with the prefix “Del” being “added to give the group name an air of mystery.” Another suggestion is that Clarence Quick had known of a basketball team in Brooklyn, New York, called the Vikings and had suggested the name. The name may also have originated from the popular Viking Press, publisher of paperbacks that group members liked to read.

Originally signed to Fee Bee Records, their first hit came in 1957 with “Ultra High Fidelity” (Dot EP DEP 1058) followed by the Wright-led “Come Go with Me”. The group quickly found itself in greater demand following the release of “Come Go with Me”, which propelled the group into the Top 10 on Billboard’s pop chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. Soon after, Jackson left and was replaced by Gus Backus, the group’s second white member.

All of the group members, other than Kripp Johnson, had been under 21 when they had signed their recording contract with Fee Bee (a tiny Pittsburgh label, which was later distributed by Dot Records). Having signed the contract as minors, they had the right to be released from it. In 1957, under the direction of their manager, Alan Strauss, they left to record at Mercury Records. Johnson, who was still bound to Fee Bee/Dot, stayed, thus creating two Del Viking groups. The original group replaced Johnson with Quick’s friend William Blakely and recorded the Backus-led song “Cool Shake”. Kripp Johnson constructed a new group with the returning Don Jackson, Chuck Jackson, Arthur Budd, and Ed Everette. This group recorded the Kripp Johnson-led “I’m Spinning”, billing themselves as the Dell Vikings. Dot also released “Whispering Bells”, with Kripp Johnson again featured on lead. Interestingly, the Dot label added an ‘s’ to his name which read “featuring ‘Krips’ Johnson”. It reached number nine on Billboard’s Top 100 chart. Around this time, some old Fee Bee demo tracks had been sold to an up-and-coming record company, Luniverse, who overdubbed a backing track on these accapella songs, which included an early version of “Come Go with Me”. The overdubbed demo was included as a track on an 8 song album subsequently released by Luniverse. Only one single was released from these Luniverse overdubs - #106 - “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”/ “Hey Senorita”.

Johnson’s Dot group had an extra advantage - he had been discharged from the USAF and his group could tour freely, while the original group needed to seek military leave in order to tour. Mercury sued, claiming it had sole rights to any spelling of the group’s name, and the Dell-Vikings briefly became The Versatiles, with singles being billed to “Kripp Johnson and the Versatiles” or “Chuck Jackson and the Versatiles”. The group broke up, with Chuck Jackson going on to a successful solo career. Meanwhile, the original group had begun to fall apart. Gus Backus was re-stationed, leaving the group a quartet. They broke up soon after. Quick restructured the group with new talent from the Pittsburgh area—lead tenor, Billie Woodruff, Willie Green, Douglass White,and Ritzy Lee. By the end of 1957, with the breakup of the “Dell” Vikings, Kripp Johnson returned to the original group, making them a sextet. They signed to ABC-Paramount. While the nucleus of the group was back, they weren’t able to chart any more hits, and the group split up in 1965.

The Del Vikings were back in 1970 with a near original line-up- Clarence Quick, Kripp Johnson, Norman Wright, Dave Lerchey, and William Blakely. The group re-recorded many of their old hits for Scepter Records; a new version of “Come Go With Me” made the Bubbling Under The Hot 100 chart in 1973. Things began to unravel quickly, however, as members began to leave once again. David Finley was in one of the lead spots from 1972-76. Another group, with lead singer Billy Woodruff, Ritzy Lee, Terry Young, Mona Lisa Young and Paul Moser lasted a short time in the mid-seventies. Later in the seventies, the group was Quick, Blakely, Louis C. Velez (whom Quick, now the only original member, selected to replace him when he was no longer able to perform), Arthur Martinez, and Jerry Williams.

In 1980, Kripp Johnson restarted the “Dell” Vikings with Dave Lerchey, 1960s member Ritzy Lee, and new member John Byas. Norman Wright rejoined this group in 1990. In the Del Vikings, Jerry Williams was replaced by Herbert McQueen.

Frank “Mingo” Ayers replaced William Blakely in the early 80s. He suffered some health problems after a short time and Dickie Harmon was brought in as a sub. The group lost its last original member, Clarence Quick, when he died in 1985. His place was taken by Lloyd “Butch” Phillips. Leroy Binns of the Charts supplied bass vocals for a time - later being taken over by Bernard “BJ” Jones (current member of the Dubs.) After Frank Ayers return, Dickie Harmon became a permanent member and Louis Velez took over bass vocals. They continued recording, and released an album in 1991 for BVM Records entitled Rock and Roll Remembered.

Kripp Johnson died in 1990. His group (John Byas, Dave Lerchey, Norman Wright, and Ritzy Lee) continued to perform at major resorts in the US, Canada, and Caribbean, as well as major cruise lines and various casinos. After the death of John Byas in 1999, Norman Wright left and reformed another group with his sons Anthony Wright and Norman Wright, Jr., and friend Mike Machado. Dave Lerchey retired but occasionally performed with this group (Lerchey died on January 29, 2005). This group was featured on the PBS special Doo Wop 50 in 1999, with Dave Lerchey.

Lerchey formed another Del Vikings group with his sons shortly before his death.

Frank Ayers would later be out of the Clarence Quick group at which time the group would reorganize with bassman Les Levine entering and Harmon taking over lead vocals. Ayers died in 1999. 2002 marked Dickie Harmon leaving the group and becoming a member of The Teenagers and the death of Lloyd “Butch” Phillips. Phillips, Harmon, and Binns had backed up Joe Grier as The Charts that year. By the mid 2000s, the line-up was Velez, Martinez, Les Levine, Ron Coleman, and Reggie Walker. Unfortunately, after a long battle with ill health, “Sweet” Lou Velez died on May 31, 2008. Obituary of Louis “Sweet Lou” Velez. Shelly Wengrovsky joined the group in the middle of 2008. During the latter part of 2009, Ron Coleman joined “The Channels”. Reggie Walker died on January 25, 2010. The addition of Lewis McMillan and Bobby Walker in April 2010 now completes the quintet.

Norman Wright died in April, 2010.

The group’s biggest hits have been used in such films as American Graffiti, American Hot Wax, The Hollywood Knights, Diner, Stand By Me, and Joe Versus the Volcano.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Del-Vikings)

zip The Del-Vikings - 1956 Audition Tapes

Eddie Jefferson - Body and Soul

Eddie Jefferson (August 3, 1918 – May 9, 1979) was a celebrated jazz vocalist and lyricist. He is credited as an innovator of vocalese, a musical style in which lyrics are set to an instrumental composition or solo. Perhaps his best-known song is “Moody’s Mood for Love”, though it was first recorded by King Pleasure, who cited Jefferson as an influence. Jefferson’s songs “Parker’s Mood” and “Filthy McNasty” were also hits.

Jefferson was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of his most notable recordings, “So What”, combined the lyrics of artist Christopher Acemandese Hall with the music of Miles Davis to highlight his skills, and enabled him to turn a phrase, into his style he calls jazz vocalese.

Jefferson’s last recorded performance was at the Joe Segal’s Jazz Showcase in Chicago and was released on video by Rhapsody Films. He shared the stand with Richie Cole (alto sax), John Campbell (piano), Kelly Sill (bass) and Joel Spencer (drums). The performance was part of a tour that Jefferson and Cole led together. Their opening night in Detroit, Michigan was at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, a jazz club built in the 1930s that has played host to famous musicians including musicians who spanned the genre with artists as diverse as Dexter Gordon and Sonny Stitt.

A previously unreleased live recording from July 1976 was released in August 2009, Eddie Jefferson at Ali’s Alley, with drummer Rashied Ali.

Eddie Jefferson was shot and killed at Baker’s Keyboard Lounge on May 8, 1979, aged 60. He had left the club with fellow bandleader Cole around 1:35 a.m. and was shot while walking out of the building. A late-model Lincoln Continental was spotted speeding away from the scene. The driver was later picked up by Detroit police and identified as a disgruntled dancer with whom Jefferson once worked and had fired from a gig. The suspect was charged with murder, but was later acquitted in a Detroit trial. 

The Marcels - Blue Moon

The Marcels were a doo-wop group known for turning American classical pop songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and signed to Colpix Records, with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, Ron Mundy, and Richard Knauss. The group was named by Fred Johnson’s younger sister Priscilla, after a popular hair style of the day, the marcel wave. In 1961 many were surprised to hear a new version of the ballad “Blue Moon” that began with the bass singer saying, “bomp-baba-bomp” and “dip-da-dip.” The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It is featured in The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.

The disc went to number one in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, and UK Singles Chart. In the U.S., additional revivals in the same vein as “Blue Moon” – “Heartaches” and “Melancholy Baby” – were less successful, although “Heartaches” peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 and eventually sold over one million copies worldwide.

In August 1961, due to problems encountered in the Deep South while touring because of the group being bi-racial, the white members, Knauss and Bricker left and were replaced by Allen Johnson (brother of Fred) and Walt Maddox. Mundy left soon after, leaving the group a quartet.

In 1962, Harp and Allen Johnson left, and were replaced by Richard Harris and William Herndon. There was a brief reunion of the original members in 1973. The group made several recordings in 1975 with Harp back on lead.

Original member Gene Bricker died in 1983. Allen Johnson died in 1995.

By the early 1990s the group included Johnson, Maddox, Harris, Jules Hopson, and Richard Merritt.

The group split around 1995. Fred Johnson formed his own group with new members, while the other four members recruited new bassist Ted Smith. Maddox won a lawsuit against Sunny James Svetnic, the manager of Johnson’s group, for trademark infringement in 1996. Johnson reunited with Harp, Mundy, and Knauss in 1999 for the PBS special Doo Wop 50.

The Marcels were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2002.

In Brazil, their greatest hit, “Blue Moon”, was the opening theme from the soap opera production O Beijo do Vampiro, from TV Globo network, exhibited between 2002 and 2003.

The Skyliners - S/T (1959)

Taking a different route today because this record hasn’t left my player all week.

       

The Skyliners are an American doo-wop group from Pittsburgh fronted by Jimmy Beaumont. The original lineup also included Wally Lester, Jack Taylor, Joe Verscharen, Louis M. Tutino and Janet Vogel. While this quintet constituted the formal group of vocalists, they were backed by a variety of Pittsburgh musicians including Joe Dalu, a drummer from Pittsburgh’s Manchester neighborhood who also played with local favorites Ray and The Furys (COED Label, 1959).

The Skyliners were best known for their 1959 hit “Since I Don’t Have You.” Popular covers by Trini Lopez, Chuck Jackson, Don McLean, Guns N’ Roses, The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Ronnie Milsap, and Buckaroo Banzai have helped keep the song in the public consciousness. They also hit the Top 40 with “This I Swear” and “Pennies from Heaven.” Other classics include “It Happened Today” (1959), “Close Your Eyes” (1961), and “Comes Love” (1962). The original group dissolved in 1963 but reunited eleven years later (without Jack Taylor) for what would become their last charted record, “Where Have They Gone?”

In 1965 Jimmy Beaumont recorded 2 notable singles for the “Bang” label. The first, ‘Tell Me’ b/w ‘I Feel Like I’m Falling In Love’ were pleasant midtempo soul styled tracks. For his 2nd Bang 45 ‘I Never Loved Her Anyway’ b/w ‘You Got Too Much Going For You’ Jimmy was transformed into a very impressive soul singer sounding nothing like his previous more pop styled efforts, leading some to question in later years if it is actually him singing. These two excellent tracks that have now rightly become Northern Soul collectables. The 2nd 45 was also issued on UK London HLZ 10059 in 1966.

In 1978, Detroit producer Don Davis who produced Marilynn McCoo & Billy Davis, Jr., Johnny Taylor, the Dramatics, and the Dells) picked up one of his favorite groups to record in his studio, United Sound Studios. There they recorded the Skyliners ‘comeback’ album for the RCA subsidiary, Tortoise International Records. The song ‘Oh, How Happy’ & ‘The Love Bug’ were on this album, as well as a hefty re-make of Dan Schafer’s original RCA Victor single ‘A Day without you, Dear’.

Today, Jimmy Beaumont still performs with The Skyliners in their current lineup of Nick Pociask, Rick Morris, and Donna Groom (whose husband, Mark Groom, has been the group’s drummer/conductor for more than 25 years). Two of the original members have died: Janet Vogel (suicide) in 1980 (age 37), and Joe Verscharen of cancer in 2007 (age 67). Their longtime manager and producer Joe Rock, who also co-wrote “Since I Don’t Have You”, died on April 4, 2000 after complications from quadruple bypass heart surgery at age 63.

Dodo Marmarosa - Up in Dodo’s Room

                                  

Michael “Dodo” Marmarosa (December 12, 1925 – September 17, 2002) was an American bebop pianist.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a child prodigy, Marmarosa was a trained classical pianist, but familiarised himself with jazz in parallel and practised with school mate Erroll Garner, another pianist from Pittsburgh. He received the uncomplimentary nickname, “Dodo”, as a child because of his large head and short body.

He began his professional career in 1941, joining the Johnny “Scat” Davis Orchestra at the age of 15, which led him to joining Gene Krupa’sband shortly after. The early 1940s brought a stint in Charlie Barnet’s big band, where he first met Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker, the luminaries of bebop. In 1944, he joined Tommy Dorsey, playing alongside Buddy Rich. In November 1944, Marmarosa joined Artie Shaw’scombo, known as the Gramercy Five, that also featured guitarist Barney Kessel and fellow Pittsburgher, trumpet player Roy Eldridge.

He recorded as a sideman in the late 1940s, notably with Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Howard McGhee. He also featured in Gene Norman’s Just Jazz concerts, and in 1947 wonEsquire magazine’s New Star (piano) award. His recordings with Charlie Parker in 1946 in Hollywood are regarded as some the finest Jazz records ever made.

Marmarosa recorded a 78-rpm single for Savoy Records on July 21, 1950. The recording featured Marmarosa’s trio, with Thomas Mandrus on bass and Joe “Jazz” Wallace on drums. The four tunes recorded for the session were reissued by Savoy on the double album, The Modern Jazz Piano Album (1980).

After 1950, his only recordings were a 1961 session for Argo Records under the supervision of Chicago producer Jack Tracy (Dodo’s Back!) and a 1962 Chicago studio date featuring him in trio and, with Gene Ammons, quartet settings (available as Prestige CD Jug and Dodo). He continued to perform in Pittsburgh, albeit irregularly, and a CD containing amateur recordings of his performances has been issued by Uptown Records. His low profile has been attributed to mental illness: Marmarosa was drafted in 1954, given electric shock treatment, and discharged in poor psychological condition.

Marmarosa last performed in public at the Colony Restaurant in Pittsburgh in 1968. Despite his intermittent career, he is generally considered to have been in the top rank of jazz pianists. At the time of his death, Marmarosa resided at the VA Medical Center in Lincoln-Lemington-Belmar, Pittsburgh, occasionally playing piano and organ for residents and guests of the center.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodo_Marmarosa)

zip Dodo Marmarosa - Up in Dodo’s Room

Barry Galbraith - Guitar & the Wind

Joseph Barry Galbraith (December 18, 1919, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 13, 1983, Bennington, Vermont) was an American jazz guitarist.

Galbraith moved to New York City from Vermont early in the 1940s and found work playing with Babe Russin, Art Tatum, Red Norvo, Hal McIntyre, and Teddy Powell. He played with Claude Thornhill in 1941-42 and again in 1946-49 after serving in the Army. He did a tour with Stan Kenton in 1953.

Galbraith did extensive work as a studio musician for NBC and CBS in the 1950s and 1960s; among those he played with were Miles Davis, Michel Legrand, Tal Farlow, Coleman Hawkins, John Lewis, Hal McKusick, Oscar Peterson, Max Roach, George Russell, and Tony Scott. He also accompanied the singers Anita O’Day, Chris Connor, Billie Holiday, Helen Merrill, Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington on record.

In 1961 he appeared in the film After Hours. In 1963-64 he played on Gil Evans’s album The Individualism of Gil Evans, and in 1965 he appeared on the Stan Getz/Eddie Sauter-led soundtrack to Mickey One. From 1970 to 1975 he taught at CUNY, and published a guitar method book in 1982. From 1976-77 Galbraith taught guitar at New England Conservatory in Boston.

(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Galbraith)

He also appeared as guitar player on Billie Holiday’s Lady in Satin — definitely her best full length in my opinion.

rar Barry Galbraith - Guitar & the Wind

Ray Crawford - Smooth Groove

                        

Guitarist Ray Crawford, born in Pittsburgh in 1924, began his career playing tenor sax and clarinet. While living in Pittsburgh, he started a group with Art Blakey. He performed with Fletcher Henderson from 1941 to 1943. Struck by tuberculous he was forced to give up woodwinds. He switched to guitar and became a key member of Ahmad Jamal’s early trios from 1949 through 1955. With Jamal he was noted for his percussive bongo-like guitar sound that was adopted by Herb Ellis. After his stint with Jamal, Crawford recorded with Gil Evans in 1959 and 1960. Settling in LA in the 60’s he drove around in a converted ice cream truck and became an avid tennis player. From 1958 through the ‘80’s Crawford recorded and toured with Jimmy Smith. During his career he also recorded with Tom Waits, Lou Rawls, Curtis Amy, Richard ‘Groove Holmes, Ray Charles and more. Crawford also had several solo releases including: Smooth Groove (1961) and Doubletimes (2003). He died on Dec. 30, 1997 in Pittsburgh.

(source: https://sites.google.com/site/pittsburghmusichistory/pittsburgh-music-story/jazz/modern-era/ray-crawford)

rar Ray Crawford - Smooth Groove

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